Reframing, Bolman and Deal

Essay #2: Reframing TechnologyBolman and Deal organize their book around the idea of framing, and they give many metaphors, examples, and comparisons in defining this approach. It is compared to a paradigm or a map, a mind-set or a general approach to problem solving. Managers work best, they claim, when they use a holistic approach, reframing problems in four different categories: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. Leading a complex organization requires artistry to combine these approaches as well as an embrace of uncertainty. The best management needs a commitment not only to excellence but also to flexibility, dialogue, and open-mindedness. In this paper, I shall examine the general topic of technology through Bolman and Deal's four frames, demonstrating how a manager can consider and implement technology in multiple ways.

Technology's direct effects on organizational structure have been readily visible over the past twenty years. The ascendancy of personal computer networks over mainframes has accelerated the shift away from ponderous bureaucracies toward nimble networks. In other words, technology moves decision making closer to the immediate situation. The Wall Street Journal article about Captain Ayers demonstrated how even such traditionally rigid hierarchies as the U.S. military now see the value of empowering lower level decision makers and encouraging shared experiences throughout the organization. Because of this, technology has been one of the key enablers for eliminating layers of management and encouraging the use of self-organized teams and networks of individuals, moving toward Miles and Snow's projected cellular form of the future. They discuss how each cell can continually reorganize and use technical, collaborative, and governance skills to customize and improve its output. These teams can even assemble over long distances to share expertise, which enhances productivity, as Margaret Wheatley notes, " self-managed teams are far more productive than any other form of organizing."

From a manager's perspective, the freedom of self-managed teams and evolving groups can present an apparent problem of control. However, a manger can use the same tool of technology to enhance planning, oversight, statistical sampling, and quality control. The wealth of available information, historical data, and computer modeling can help managers make sound predictions and plans. In the area of implementation and operations, Frederick Winslow Taylor, as removed as he might seem from the world of modern technology, would be pleased that computers ease the sharing of best practices across whole companies and industries. In the same vein, Deming would champion the continued quality and innovation possible, especially when technology is combined with cross-departmental communication. A structural manager can thus view technology as an aid in planning and control, as well as coordination and networking among employees.

A manager who focuses not on the structural aspect of technology but on the human resource implications would also see much positive value in the increased communication and networking. Framing the company as a family, the human resource approach would see technology as fulfilling the need for relationships and belonging that according to Maslow's hierarchy need to be met prior to self-esteem needs and self-actualization. People will be most productive and happy when they feel interconnected in a web of relationships and communication. The principal trap of technology is that it can put an end to face-to-face meetings. This is important to avoid, and keeping people informed and involved in the decision making process requires both technological interfaces and traditional means. Still, technology is one very important tool, particularly in connecting geographically diverse individuals.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Nur Aiysha Ghazali
ENGM 264
Paper #1-Bolman &amp; DealBolman and Deal discuss about for frames; structural, human resource, political and symbolic. Each frame has its own characteristics, where and how the situation is applied in organization. A leader or authority of companies sometimes would apply these frames in their organization in order to tackle their employees. However, I will only discuss about 3 frames that most gave the impact to me when I read this book.
The first frame that is valuable is human resources. The human resource frame talks about how organizations and people do to and for one another. Family is the suitable metaphor for organization to describe the situation. The example given in the book was about three Nucor Corp electricians who flew and drove to Arkansas and spent 24 hours to fix the failed electric grid. This example shows that they do not need their boss to tell them to go and fix it. As soon as they heard the bad news, they promptly caught a flight and arrived there even though it was already past midnight. That action deserves some compliments-; if it happened to me, I would rather have a good sleep first and then we will see tomorrow how we are going to deal with that. The weird thing is, on what basis they made such a sacrifice for their company? This is how the human resource frame applies. Their company...

...Case #1 – Ben and Jerry’s
David Allard
Organizational Behavior
October 7, 2012
This essay focuses on the case of Ben and Jerry’s – Keeping the Mission(s) alive and its relationship to Bolman and Deal’s four frames model for leadership.
“Formal roles and responsibilities minimize distracting personal static and maximize people’s performance on the job” (B&amp;D 47). Ben and Jerry’s had a strong structure in terms of employee roles, marketing, production, and product placement frameworks and the company brought in revenues from every profit avenue in the super premium ice-cream industry, but the structure was not built to support growth. The main criteria of organizations structure states that organizations exist to achieve established goals and objectives (B&amp;D 47). The problem was the lacking of established profit based goals, only a mission to conduct business in a socially responsible manner. “The growth and success of the firm had not been the original intention nor expectation for the two founders; the two had serious misgivings about the idea of building a substantial profit-making company” (Theroux, 7). Managing with the structural frame, Lacy’s should streamline labor, maximize efficiency, and use rationality over personal moral agendas. This type of approach directly contradicts the philosophies and mission of the company founders who supported blue-collar family farm labor, socially purposeful resourcing, and top down...

...﻿
Prompt #1: What did you learn about organizations?
I learned that all organizations big or small, have a structural frame, also known as the “social architecture” of an organization. (Bolman and Deal, 2013. Pg. 60) I learned that it is an organizational design that shows hierarchy, in order to create coordination and control. There is no one size fits all structure, many factors contribute to a successful structure of an organization, also known as Structural Imperatives. In order to build a successful structure it is imperative to follow these six dimensions, “size and age, core process, environment, strategy and goals, information technology, and nature of the workforce”. (Bolman and Deal, 2013. Pg. 61) The structural frame provides the framework of rules and responsivities of an organization and ensures the organization stays aligned to meet the mission of that organization. I learned that some organizations start off small and then eventually grow therefore they must evolve their structure to ensure the organization continues to be successful and to avoid misalignment within the current structure.
Prompt #2: What did you learn about the behavior of individuals within an organization?
I learned that the structural frame of an organization has a variety of impacts on the behavior of members of an organization. It relies on leadership behavior to initiate a structure and implement procedures. Depending on the...

...﻿Political Frame Notes
From Bolman and Deal: All direct quotes:
Chapter Nine
Pages 185-186
The political frame does not blame politics on such individual characteristics as selfishness, myopia, or incompetence. Instead, it asserts that interdependence, divergent interests, scarcity, and power relations inevitably spawn political activity.
Page 186: Political Assumptions
1. Organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and interest groups.
2. There are enduring differences among coalition members in values, beliefs, information, interests, and perceptions of reality.
3. Most important decisions involve allocating scarce resources—who gets what.
4. Goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiation, and jockeying for position among competing stakeholders.
Page 188:
A coalition forms because of interdependence among its members; they need one another, even though their interest may only partly overlap. The assumption of enduring difference implies that political activity is more visible and dominant under conditions of diversity than of homogeneity. Agreement and harmony are easier to achieve when everyone shares similar values, beliefs, and culture.
The concept of scarce resources suggests that politics will be more salient and intense in difficult times.
Power in organizations is basically the capacity to get things done. Pfeffer (1992, p.30) defines power as the “potential ability to influence...

...Kennedy High? What options does this frame suggest?
As is usually true in real life, the outcome of the reframing process is not a miracle but greater clarity coupled with a richer and more comprehensive set of strategies for what to do.
Chapter 20 Major Case Example ________________________________________
Robert F. Kennedy High School
SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 20
There are two complementary teaching emphases for this chapter:
1. 2.
Replay and critique of the reframing process described in the chapter. Application of the same process to other cases.
Copyright  2003 by Joan V. Gallos and Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Company, 989 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94103 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
-1-
Chapter-by-Chapter Notes and Teaching Suggestions
Teaching methods appropriate for each approach are described in the sections that follow. Student exercises keyed to the approaches appear in “Student Exercises for Chapter 20,” beginning on page 2.
Chapter 20: Replay and Critique of David King’s Reframing _______________
There is value in having students compare their own thinking about the RFK High case with the reframing process depicted for David King in the...

...Cognitive Reframing: A Technique for Creating Change
Hillary Fowler,
September 5, 2011
* BSHS/322
* Amber Templain-Kuehn
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the theory that thoughts control behaviors and actions. It is the practice of teaching a client to change the way they think. In return it is believed in theory that their actions will change, behaviors will change, out looks will change. All these changes will happen without the outside influences being changed such as people, places, situations, or events.
One of the large differences in cognitive-behavior therapy is the amount of trust between client and clinician. The client must trust the clinician and believe in changing thoughts and thought process. If the client has doubts and is not willing to fully trust the thoughts may not be as easy changed or change at all. Another difference is that the client must do work on their own. The client is given goals to work on independently and between visits. The client must learn to control thoughts and focus in another direction even when the clinician is not present and guiding the client through. A client must lead their own thoughts and create a new direction to create different and new thoughts. The clinician does not tell the client how to feel or how to think. The clinician asks questions and encourages the client to ask the same questions of themselves. The client must unlearn the way they once thought and reacted and relearn a new...

...“ No Deals”
District Attorney Kathleen Rice proposed the “No Deal” policy in hopes of giving less chances to people who were arrested for drunken driving and that have had previous convictions for the same offense. The punishment for endangering another human being should without a doubt fit the crime. The question is what is the difference between the casual drink and the people who over do it with their alcoholic beverages? Most people would argue that Kathleen Rice is single handedly attacking those who don't have the money to defend themselves. Personally, I do not stand for drinking and driving or being under the influence in anyway ; however the line needs to be drawn to make aware what IS and what is NOT acceptable. I want to say that if you commit a crime, you should have the full responsibility for your actions but there are other things to take into consideration.
After an arrest, the arrest report is sent to the Prosecutor. Their job is to initiate the criminal case. They will decide if the case should be charged as felony or misdemeanor and file a complaint with the trial court. For example: an office may decide that an arrest for drinking under the influence with be taken to trial and “plea bargained” down to a lesser offense. As a Defense Attorney they are there to represent the person being accused of committing a crime. They will make an effort to to have their client to be found guilty of the charges whether the client...

...Clause. It also stated that since the business was thus intrastate, the NIRA could not set any kinds of labor restrictions or requirements on the company.
While these cases seem to support my idea, I was struck by the differing decisions in other cases that seemed to be on the same track as the above cases. These include, but not limited to NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., and United States v. Darby, which had to do with the defining of "direct" and "indirect" effects on commerce and how to exercise the power to regulate activities that effect interstate commerce. It seems to me that the court began to run around in circles. It did not set down any defining moments and contradicted itself many times during the New Deal and Post New Deal. It is this reason alone that makes me agree with people who say that the Court should not define commerce because it can't decide on which meaning it is going to follow.
The decisions of the Court in Wickard v. Filburn really put me in a defensive mood. To have Congress decide what a farmer could plant and consume within his own household seems to be outside its jurisdiction. I did not see how one farmer could impact interstate commerce by growing food for his family, and consuming it on his farm. Had he been selling it on the side, the case would have looked different, but the fact that Congress had the right to interfere in this man's private life with the Courts support is...